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Watchdog says pollution issue complaints more than crime

The National Human Rights Commission is increasingly receiving complaints on environmental pollution, food adulteration and foreign employment issues, an official said on Thursday.

NHRC member Sudeep Pathak said, “Due to increased awareness people now file complaints on air, rivers, streams and water sources’ pollution.”

One complaint concerns an industry in the middle of a human settlement. The complainant says the industry pollutes the environment and makes living in the area an ordeal for all, Pathak said.

Complaints are also about industries and factories not fulfilling pollution standards, he said. Although the number of complaints lodged with the NHRC has fallen, their nature has changed, said Pathak.

During the decade-long Maoist insurgency that ended in 2006, the commission was overwhelmed with cases related to heinous crimes and violation of human rights.

Currently, complaints on food adulteration and foreign employment issues top the chart as people have become more aware about their labour, employment, consumer and health rights, said Pathak.

The constitutional commission has made several recommendations to the government in response to the complaints related to environmental pollution.

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